Persian Rappers

[IQ]

http://www.nylamagazine.com/brabo/brabo1.htm

He already boasts former 2-Pac collaborators The Outlaws among the artists he has worked with, has had khoresht (Persian stew) with G-Unit’s Young Buck and has fellow southern rappers Pistol and Big Z signed to his own label, but what makes the story of 20-year-old rapper BRABO GATOR truly unique is that he is representing Persian hip hop in a most unlikely place: Tennessee.

But being the only Persian around for miles doesn’t discourage Brabo from doing what he loves. “I was 13 years old,and I’d go and find people in my school that did rap,” Brabo recalls. “Then I’d take the money that I’d saved and take them to the studio and let them record.” At a young age, Brabo built others’ careers… yet remained without his own. “There was always [a dichotomy] of getting them where they needed to be…so I decided to teach myself how to do it. I already knew the business side of it, but I started loving the music side of it.”

Brabo’s success is a lesson in faith. “When [a rap group he formed with two friends] put our first CD out, my parents got a (sense of what I was doing) and then our second CD was almost picked up by Sony won the album of the year for the entire southeast.” It was glory for Brabo and his group Top Dollar. With studios in Nashville and Kentucky, Brabo’s keeping his Iranian heritage alive within his music, “You can’t deny who you are just because another person doesn’t like it…I’m doing [it] just for my people.” And just to prove it, Brabo samples legendary Persian diva Hayedeh’s 1980s hit, “Shanehayat-ra (Shoulders).”

Look for Brabo’s solo self-titled debut, due out by 2007.

-Nima Najafi-Kianfar

[Dariush]

iqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq]koja hasti to
dis nigga kan rap

[Raiden]

Bad nabood...dastet dard nakoneh.

[IQ]

iqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq]koja hasti to
dis nigga kan rap

been busy. ( IQ coming soon )

[IQ]

this rapper is half persian and half black. he went to the high school that i went to.

http://www.nylamagazine.com/kspawn/kspawn.htm

http://www.nylamagazine.com/kspawn/kspawn2.htm

http://www.nylamagazine.com/kspawn/kspawn3.htm

http://www.nylamagazine.com/kspawn/kspawn4.htm

COAST TO COAST

Los Angeles-based 24-year-old rapper Kavon Davis, aka KSPAWN, stakes his claim as the most diverse emcee around. Born to a black father and Persian mother on a military base in Frankfurt, Germany, KSPAWN’s parents divorced when he was young. The schism accorded him the opportunity to absorb the influences of the bi-coastal rap movement while spending time on the west coast with his mother in the suburbs of Southern California and taking sojourns to the east coast to visit his father in Maryland.

Attending junior high school in nearby Baltimore and then L.A.’s Taft High – where he played varsity basketball alongside current USC football player Steve Smith, NFL tight end Gregg Guenther of the Tennessee Titans, and against perennial NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards – was even more instrumental in KSPAWN becoming the ultimate hybrid rapper, according him to interact with peers at his primarily black middle school, and then flipping the script when he went to Taft, which reportedly boasts a more than 50% Persian student population and alumni such as rapper Ice Cube and actor Wilmer Valderrama.

“Living on the east coast brought me closer to the street side of rap,” KSPAWN explains. “But when I was exposed to the west coast, specifically the Persian community, it enlightened me in the sense that I could approach the music industry in a whole new way, as a Persian rapper trying to break into mainstream music.”

KSPAWN, who recently started his own record label, “Iron Sheik Records,” is currently collaborating with producers who have worked with Cam’ron, Dipset and other Roc-A-Fella artists for his debut album. He was also featured in the 2005 Newline Cinema DVD release “Refuse to Die,” the unauthorized biography of rapper 50 Cent. He narrates a couple of the scenes in the documentary, as well as rap over a major scene and freestyle rap in the “Making Of” segment of the disc’s special features section.

-Mayar Zokaei

[Raiden]

this rapper is half persian and half black. he went to the high school that i went to.

http://www.nylamagazine.com/kspawn/kspawn.htm

http://www.nylamagazine.com/kspawn/kspawn2.htm

http://www.nylamagazine.com/kspawn/kspawn3.htm

http://www.nylamagazine.com/kspawn/kspawn4.htm

Bebakshid ina ham rapayeh digareshe? Akhe kar nemikonand...albattah oonike too poste avalli gosashti kar mikneh.

[IQ]

alan man click kardam daare mikhone. in yeki digast vali.

[Raiden]

nemidonam cherah barayeh man kar nemikoneh...

[Rasputin]

IQ.. the page is workin' ! No errores ! Thx .

[Raiden]

Baleh...moshkel as maneh!

[IQ]

oh ok

[IQ]

http://www.nylamagazine.com/ardavan/ardavan1.htm

THE LIGHT

The ranks of Persian hip-hop artists may be as thin as a White House alibi compared to the rest of the general population, but there are gleaming spots of potential. Glowing as an ever-brightening beacon is Los Angeles' own WHODENE, whose quest for music goes far beyond making a groove to which clubbers can grind on each other with. I want to make music you could put on in a club, but has something to say, like Kanye West," Whodene voices.

And on the everlasting mutual contempt of the underground, and mainstream scenes, Whodene calls into question the validity of the mainstream. "It's all just 'drink Cristal, party and have sex," Whodene laments. "The mainstream is about being famous but talks about nothing. The underground is about reading books and being intellectual."

The young upstart cites a Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy and Whodini as some of his inspirations, and when it comes to pay homage to his cultural roots, he's more than willing. "I use the traditional Persian influence in music," Whodene explains. "Everyone's looking to the Middle East right now, and I want to show that the Middle East is not just about Hezbollah."

-Micah Grossman

[IQ]

http://www.nylamagazine.com/pryncep/pryncep1.htm

http://www.nylamagazine.com/pryncep/pryncep2.htm

http://www.nylamagazine.com/pryncep/pryncep3.htm

FRESH PRYNCE

The girls had it right when in high school they first started calling the token Persian guy in their class a “prince.” PRYNCE PAYUMY, also known as Prynce P, may not exactly have a crown on, but he certainly is driven to make a name for Persians in the hip-hop industry. He’s already founded his own label, released one album, and is about to release his second, and all at 27 years of age.

Raised in Dallas and influenced by rappers such as Canibus and Dead Prez, 28-year-old Prynce P showed off his talents by recording his first track, “Thoughtz,” in 2001. The track, which continues to be heavily downloaded almost half a decade after its release, gained so much recognition that Prynce P was able to jump to the next level and establish his own independent music label, Pohectic Life Entertainment. Named with a linguistic play on “hectic poetry”, the label came out with its first album, The Prynce & The Pauper, in 2004.The 16-track album touched on a huge variety of topics, from girls to political injustice. Expect to hear catchier hits, and even more compelling lyrics, on Prynce’s upcoming release, Pohectic – The 2nd Chapter, due out summer 2006 and featuring more than two dozen artists, including Nutt-so of Outlawz.

“Every day you should learn something new,” Prynce decrees. “[For this album], we learned how to play with our words much better and count bars. But we have to keep making music. If you are good enough, the money will come.”

And if you happen to attend Chuck Norris’ World Combat League (a professional martial arts league) keep your ears open for Prynce’s music serenading the bloodthirsty crowds.

-Raheleh Mehrinfar

[GoorGoor]

ahange khobi bood.

[IQ]

http://www.nylamagazine.com/locksmith/locksmith1.htm

MIDDLE MAN


Long known as a haven for all the aspects of life that the best hip hop songs are made of, California’s Bay Area has a history of spawning groundbreaking rap artists since the genre’s birth. Now after being forgotten in the realm of Hip Hop, Bay Area artists are starting a movement to regain some notoriety for their slice of the world. Known as the “New Bay” movement, rappers from the area have made it a mission to gain recognition for their hometowns.

One such rapper is also consequently representing the Persian community as well. Locksmith, one half of the duo, Frontline makes no bones about his middle-eastern heritage and refers to himself as “the Persian version of Malcolm Little.” Born to a Persian father and an African American mother, he credits his parents with protecting him from the dangers of the streets where he grew up. “God was shining down on me, saying, ‘Maybe there’s something better for you.’”

Having graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Africa American Studies, Locksmith is probably one of the few hip hop artists to complete higher education. Although his partner in crime, (or rather, lack of) Left, is currently a senior at the same college and raising those stats.

While the New Bay movement isn’t a single-handed effort, Locksmith may be the only artist representing any portion of the Persian community and from what we’ve heard, he’s giving props apropos.

-Rama Sobhani